grady harp

Biography

Grady Harp is a recognized as a champion of Representational Art in the roles of curator, lecturer, panelist, writer of art essays, poetry, critical reviews of literature, art and music, and as a gallerist. He has presented premiere artists from throughout the world for such exhibitions as WADE REYNOLDS: Full Circle Retrospective, BODY LANGUAGE: Current Figurative Painters, INDOMITABLE SPIRITS: The Figure at the End of the Century and MEMENTO MORI: Contemporary Still Life. He has produced exhibitions for the Arnot Art Museum in New York, Fresno Museum of Art, Nevada Museum of Art, National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum in Chicago, and Cleveland State University Art Gallery and has served as a contributing artistic advisor for universities and colleges throughout California, in Berlin, the Centro Cultural de Conde Duque in Madrid, and in Oslo. From 1996 - 1998 his collaborative exhibition, WAR SONGS: Metaphors in Clay and Poetry from the Vietnam Experience toured the United States. Harp is a frequent contributor to books on fine art (POWERFULLY BEAUTIFUL), is a Reviewer for POETS & ARTISTS magazine, and a contributor for books associated with the Ivy Press LTD in England.

Books

This member has not published any books.

Smashwords book reviews by grady harp

In Jupiter's Shadow
on Dec. 14, 2009
(no rating)
IN JUPITER’S SHADOW
by Gregory Gerard
‘I couldn’t solve the mystery of my sexuality.’
One of the literary pleasures of this year is the discovery of a gifted new writer by the name of Gregory Gerard. Though IN JUPITER’S SHADOW is his first venture into the world of the novel, Gerard gives notice of a writer of great skill and a mind capable of understanding and relating the manner of thinking and coping with the world that faces the developing young people of today. This is a story rich in content, in conveying the parameters of life in a family surrounded by the tradition of the Roman Catholic view of life yet sharing the many methods of hiding inconsistencies from the Confessional on the part of both parents and children, of the influence of the times between the years 1979 and 1984 on the maturing of teenagers, and of the struggle and turmoil of coping with sexuality that faces so many of the youngsters (and adults) paralyzed by the expectations of society. Yes, this is a coming of age story but it is so much more. With this book Gregory Gerard enters the arena of the best of authors who deal with the struggles of boys becoming men in Middle America (and throughout the country).
The main character, Greg, is a young lad who has always preferred living in the world of make believe, patterning his world view after the character detective Jupiter, a chubby but oh so wise and clever fictional boy who leads the pack in a series of books called ‘The Three Investigators.’ Gerard opens his book with some family background in 1973 where we meet his family – Drinking Dar the alcoholic father, The Booker his coping organized mother, his five older siblings including a delicate portrayal of a brain injured brother Paul, Greg’s sobriquet as ‘The Caboose’ (suggesting his place in line of a family that could have easily done without him), his funky Gram who has terms for everything, and the various priests whose influence is felt at every turn. From this starting point Gerard allows us to grow along with and accompany Greg through his adventures as a detective, as a boy who longs to be ‘normal’ but who prefers boys as his night dream stimulators for his forbidden acts of release.
Bouncing back and forth between the years 1979 and 1984 (a very clever and well devised method of introducing and explaining a child’s progress) Gerard comfortable takes us through Greg’s steps towards finding his identity: as Greg chronicles his life he writes in his journals ‘Gram’s death. Longing to be a priest. The Bathtub. Adam. Building Headquarters, Saint Mike’s graduation. Going to McQuaid. Robberies at Gerard’s Grocery. Prayers for normalcy. Backrubs with Bob. Roy’s death.’ Each of these notations represents featured incidents in the boy’s progress to find himself and become the man he is despite the stumbles in the way of his journey. This is a story of the rigors of accepting self, especially when that self happens to be at odds with society. Gerard has the sensitivity to allow the quasi-dysfunctional family to still bear the fond memories even the worst of families retain in each of our minds. He also is kind to the influences of the variety of priests from the Catholic Church who influence the various steps in Greg’s development. And he allows us to witness and experience the delicacy and trauma of falling in love, even when falling in love imports the same sex variety.
IN JUPITER’S SHADOW is one of those books the reader wishes would never end, so welcome and treasureable is the journey with Greg – a young man we all grow to love and admire. Filled to the brim with brilliant writing, with page after page of hilarious storyline, and equally suffused with sensitivity for issues of living and dying we all learn to face, IN JUPITER”S SHADOW is a little dream of a book. Very Highly Recommended for all readers.
Grady Harp, Los Angeles, California

Kiwi in Cat City
on May 24, 2011
Reverse Anthropomorphism: An Entertaining and Educational Book for Youngsters of All Ages
By Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Kiwi in Cat City
Vickie Johnstone, whom most of us know as a poet of promise, has branched out into the world of children's literature and if her inaugural book is any indication of what lies ahead, she proves that she has what it takes to create stories that not only capture the minds of youngsters but also the glued attention of the adult readers as well. She understands well that adventure and mystery and fantasy are the ingredients that hold a youngster's attention, but at the same time she appreciates the fact that without the use of humor and a solid bit of 'connect' to real life that some children might have bad dreams if this were a bedtime story.
Amy and James are two young children who live comfortably in a home with parents: security is assured. They happen to 'own' a chubby cat they named Kiwi and one night, with parents asleep, curiosity gets the better of them as they observe Kiwi outside staring at the moon. Wondering what Kiwi does for snacks and breakfast they follow their nocturnal cat only to discover that Kiwi talks, can transform herself in a purple mist to become invisible, and furthermore Kiwi instructs Amy and James to imagine they are cats and poof! the transformation occurs! Now the newly named Ames and Jimster enter Cat World where all manner of living conditions mimic human cities, with Meow Cafés, Meow Markets, and even a police station where the three adventurers meet Inspector Furrball who shares with them a Cat Crime in progress: Catnappings have been occurring every Monday and Furrball assigns Cat Squaddie member Paws to assist the trio in resolving the mystery of the missing five catizens. The adventure is well paced and is populated with interesting characters and dilemmas and situations - all of which challenge Kiwi, Ames and Jimster to solve the well designed mystery.
In addition to telling a terrific little story, Vickie Johnstone has inserted plays on words, all-too-human situations and prejudices and flaws that make her speaking cats symbols for human foibles. Her introduction of advanced words bantered about by malapropisms encourages children to think up a step without stopping the flow of the tale. All of the ingredients for involving youngsters in the love of reading are here. KIWI IN CAT CITY is a great start in what appears to be a promised series of adventures for those who love books - human beings of all ages!
Grady Harp, May 11

Eyes Wide Open 2012: The Year's 25 Greatest Movies (and 5 Worst)
on March 03, 2013
EYES WIDE OPEN 2012: The Year’s 25 Greatest Movies (and Worst)
As Oscar draws near....a fresh approach!
Chris Barsanti can always be depended upon to be controversial - and that is exactly what Hollywood loves...free publicity, or talk, or opinion, even if that means the biggies up for Oscars are clobbered and the neglected films are praised. In this fun book Barsnati begins his survey of all the films worth mentioning in an Introduction that states, `Everybody Has an Audience: From the point-of-view shots of End of Watch to the overt theatricality of Anna Karenina, 2012 was a year for self-conscious spectacle at the movies. In The Hunger Games, the life-and-death struggle of its teen protagonists is all for the benefit of home television audiences. In Leos Carax's eye-popping Holy Motors, the whole point of life appears to be watching. Or acting. Or both. ` He then proceeds with a discussion about the status of audiences today - both in film and on television and his observations are cogent if at times a bit acerbic.
The book contains the following `chapters':
The Top 25 Films of 2012
Honorable Mentions
The 5 Worst Films of 2012
Yet More Lists
DVD Reviews
Essays
Endnote: The Harsh World: Films Facing Reality in 2012
Just to give a taste of what is to follow, Bersanti lists No1 film as Detropia (followed in order by Zero Dark Thirty, The Master...) but that would prevent the reader from buying this entertaining and opinionated and fascinating book to list them all. Barsanti's reasons for his choices are sound if at times surprising. At the end of his Honorable Mention list he does reveal the Worst 5 films of 2012 and it is doubtful he would mind sharing that in this review: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, 2016: Obama's America, The Intouchables, Rock of Ages, and The Five Year Engagement - and yes, he gives his reasons for his selection of the losers.
We also get Barsanti's lists for the best five (or so) nominations for each category of the Oscar race - and many people will agree with these. Barsanti is kind enough to share his own biographical data at book's end just so we know (if we didn't already) who wrote this tome. And he does share some philosophy in several well-considered essays and a final summation about the world as reflected in the films of 2012. Barsanti is smart and well informed and yes, opinionated, and that is what makes this book so readable and fun. Get it before Oscar night!
Grady Harp

Eyes Wide Open 2012: The Year's 25 Greatest Movies (and 5 Worst)
on March 03, 2013
(no rating)
EYES WIDE OPEN 2012: The Year’s 25 Greatest Movies (and Worst)
As Oscar draws near....a fresh approach!, February 10, 2013
By
Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)
This review is from: Eyes Wide Open 2012: The Year's 25 Greatest Movies (and 5 Worst) (Kindle Edition)
Chris Barsanti can always be depended upon to be controversial - and that is exactly what Hollywood loves...free publicity, or talk, or opinion, even if that means the biggies up for Oscars are clobbered and the neglected films are praised. In this fun book Barsnati begins his survey of all the films worth mentioning in an Introduction that states, `Everybody Has an Audience: From the point-of-view shots of End of Watch to the overt theatricality of Anna Karenina, 2012 was a year for self-conscious spectacle at the movies. In The Hunger Games, the life-and-death struggle of its teen protagonists is all for the benefit of home television audiences. In Leos Carax's eye-popping Holy Motors, the whole point of life appears to be watching. Or acting. Or both. ` He then proceeds with a discussion about the status of audiences today - both in film and on television and his observations are cogent if at times a bit acerbic.
The book contains the following `chapters':
The Top 25 Films of 2012
Honorable Mentions
The 5 Worst Films of 2012
Yet More Lists
DVD Reviews
Essays
Endnote: The Harsh World: Films Facing Reality in 2012
Just to give a taste of what is to follow, Bersanti lists No1 film as Detropia (followed in order by Zero Dark Thirty, The Master...) but that would prevent the reader from buying this entertaining and opinionated and fascinating book to list them all. Barsanti's reasons for his choices are sound if at times surprising. At the end of his Honorable Mention list he does reveal the Worst 5 films of 2012 and it is doubtful he would mind sharing that in this review: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, 2016: Obama's America, The Intouchables, Rock of Ages, and The Five Year Engagement - and yes, he gives his reasons for his selection of the losers.
We also get Barsanti's lists for the best five (or so) nominations for each category of the Oscar race - and many people will agree with these. Barsanti is kind enough to share his own biographical data at book's end just so we know (if we didn't already) who wrote this tome. And he does share some philosophy in several well-considered essays and a final summation about the world as reflected in the films of 2012. Barsanti is smart and well informed and yes, opinionated, and that is what makes this book so readable and fun. Get it before Oscar night! Grady Harp, February 13

It'll Feel Better when it Quits Hurting
on Dec. 10, 2016
Review by Grady Harp, December 10, 2016
‘Like mist slipping through my fingers, I was once again losing myself in someone else's life.’
Illinois born Lisa Orban has walked, run, been shoved through a wild beginning life and she is here to share that life with us. Not only does she write well (as though we were sitting next to her chatting) but she opens windows onto foster care, child abuse, domestic violence, teenagers’ angst at what exactly is an ‘adult’ and yet mixes all of this grim reality into a memoir that is profoundly involving and moving - and entertaining and full of some zingers that will have you howling. And despite all this she earned an Associates of Arts in Psychology and a minor in Art. ‘Over the years she has held many jobs, but never quite found the right one. She has written poetry and short stories on a variety of subjects from raising children to finance for online publication.’ And all this crazy quilt of background she now has written as a dark comedy that is based on her life that could settle in the genres of Chick Lit, memoirs, autobiography, or Young Adult fare.
This is not a book that is tidy to review: this is a book to experience, especially if the reader has no personal connection with the roughshod traipse through childhood and young adulthood Lisa has endured – and now manages to make us laugh with her (as well as try to overcome the desire to just give her a huge hug). Example of her fortitude: ‘Marrying Billy also meant an end to all the things I had been working towards, or at least, they would have to be put on hold. My plans to attend college in the fall, something I had dreamt of for so long, would once again have to wait. My independence, something I treasured even as I groped for it, would have to be set aside in the new reality of "we".’
Or better yet, taste this: ‘I am an adult now and I didn't grow up to be a Madame of a house of ill repute. In my life, I most often resemble the ringleader in a madhouse of anarchy. But sometimes, I wistfully remember the longing for flowers, gentleman callers, and enchantment that I think all of us have had at one time or another. Whatever that childhood ideal of adult life may have been. My life is not glamorous, no high society people come to call, and any dinner party I have ever had has ended in the verbal equivalent of a food fight. But, looking back on my life I realize by and large it has been a helluva ride that I wouldn't exchange for anything. So, this is my life, for better or for worse. I hope you enjoy the ride as much as I have enjoyed the roller coaster.’
While reading this memoir a tune from ‘Sweet Charity’ comes to mind – ‘If my friends could see me now’. But we CAN read her now, and if your psyche is aching for a massage, read Lisa’s fine book. You’ll feel better.